FJAAK 007: Techno Boyband Rooftop Wonders

By Eric Shifman

If you want to get to know the techno duo known as FJAAK, check the rooftops of Spandau, Berlin first. That’s where one of their latest “live” DJ sets took place back at the end of August; their “High as a Roof” set which captured stunning views of Germany at sundown and introduced the three tracks from their latest EP FJAAK 007 (2020): , “It’s Time Again,” “Myrcene,” and the aptly named “Highrise 49.”

The duo— formerly a trio— consists of Felix Wagner and Aaron Röbig, with former member Kevin Kozick departing for a solo career. The two remaining DJs continue to cultivate a name for themselves in Berlin’s contemporary techno scene, while balancing their goofy stoner aesthetic with some of the hardest kicks to shake eardrums. Sets like “High as a Roof” prove that the two persevere in doing so, through the club and festival shutdowns wrought by the pandemic. With Röbig rocking a FedBlunt (lampooning Fedex, of course) shirt and Wagner sporting something black with an incomprehensible pattern, the two move and groove joyfully to their own beats. Their incessant dancing seems like proof that the music is its own reward, even without the teeming, steaming crowds of Berlin’s underground dance halls. 

At the beginning of the set, the duo play “Myrcene,” one of the shortest and most ambient FJAAK tracks to date. Glimmering wisps of noise accompany a stretched out and screwed vocal sample, unidentifiable under the modification. The track’s title vibrates in tune with with the duo’s love affair with cannabis— Wagner and Röbig both spoke at length with MerryJane about their participation in Germany’s little-known medical marijuana program— as myrcene is a terpene (aromatic chemical compound) commonly found in mango, cardamom and of course, cannabis. Unfortunately, the only place one can listen to “Myrcene” is in the YouTube video of this live set. It’s mysteriously missing from streaming versions of FJAAK 007.

Don’t fret though! You can still enjoy the other vital-spiking tracks of this EP on all services. Rabid FJAAK fans will remember “It’s Time Again,” from their 2019 Boiler Room performance at Krakow. “It’s Time Again,” starts subtly enough, with just a string-like synth, a vocal sample and simple cymbals carrying the buildup for over a minute until the signature sharp kicks launch the song into space. The kicks readily serve up the fun part of listening to FJAAK; they are no-nonsense, bassy enough to feel them in your heart but not too echoing that they lose their edge. In fact, FJAAK thinks so highly of the kicks in this particular track, they include a 30-second segment of solely the kick track at the end.

“Highrise 49,” ends up the real star of the EP, however. “It’s Time Again” allows the simple pleasures of hard techno (and EDM in general) to carry the track. The catchy synth loop and the hype sampling is enough, but it doesn’t foster as much experimentation as “Highrise 49,” (and the rest of FJAAK’s discography) does. 

The track begins with the ubiquitous kick in a similar pattern to the first track, only this time with sampled breakbeats to tie the drums and rides together. For the first full minute, FJAAK pulls in with nothing but drums, before switching up the kicks and adding a “woosh” vocal loop. The real draw of the track comes about halfway through, when FJAAK switches to just a kick and a synth loop. FJAAK actually seems to play this atonal steel-drum-like melody differently with every measure, eschewing the predictability of their genre and making this 7-minute techno jam seem much shorter through the chaos. 

“Highrise 49” rethinks hard club techno with edgy, marijuana-laced flair, and the electronic boy band FJAAK seems eager to bring this flair back to the clubs that gave them a chance. With this new EP (and hopefully another full-length LP, which would be their first since Kozick’s departure) FJAAK provides the scene with more blueprints necessary to bring Europe’s dance floors back to life, once the pandemic no longer looms over their daily lives. 

FJAAK 007 is sold out on all vinyl import stores, but you can still put FJAAK in your virtual Milk Crate wherever you can buy and stream digital music.